GAZETTE & HERALD: A PERVERT who was spying on naked tanning studio customer Louise Hudd was spotted after he almost fell through the ceiling.

Now police are hunting for the man after the incident at the unstaffed, self-service Consol Suncenter in New Road, Chippenham.

The peeping Tom is thought to have broken into roof space, using it as a lair to prey on unsuspecting tanners.

Miss Hudd, 20, was relaxing on a sun bed on the afternoon of July 8 but had the fright of her life when she spotted the man peering down from the rafters.

The terrified nail technician said: "I heard a noise above my head and lifted the sun bed to see what it was. As I was closing it again the ceiling fell through and I saw his face.

"I screamed at him, but he refused to move. I was totally naked and he watched as I pulled my clothes on. I put my top on back to front and didn't bother with my underwear. I just wanted to get out of there. Even as I walked out of the door he was still staring at me. It was awful.

"Every time I close my eyes I see half the ceiling hanging off and his horrible, smirking face. I haven't been on a sun bed since not even in the salon where I work. It's just too upsetting."

Miss Hudd fled to her car before reporting the sinister incident to police.

Her outraged mum Lynda said: "She was pretty frightened when she got home and couldn't stop crying. It really shook her up.

"She noticed him as she walked into the salon but thought he must have been waiting for someone and didn't pay much attention.

"The moment the ceiling caved in must have been really scary for her.

"She swore at him and asked him what he was doing and he said he was just wondering what people did with sun beds. He's just got to be caught. What else has he been doing?"

Police are now investigating how the snooper managed to get up into the roof space.

Inspector Neil Bagnall of Chippenham Police said: "We think he went into the salon, got into a booth, climbed on top of the sunbed and into the ceiling space.

"We are treating this very seriously indeed. That type of behaviour is totally unacceptable."

Insp Bagnall admitted that although they'd had no reports of similar incidents, he couldn't be sure how long the man had been operating.

He said: "We would be interested to hear from anybody else who has had a similar experience, but so far we've got no information to suggest it's happened before."

He said police were now studying CCTV footage to identify the culprit.

Police indicated the suspect may have been seen leaving the cubicle. The only description they have is that he was tall with short hair.

Consol is a chain of self-service tanning salons, which are unstaffed. The doors are opened at 7am and closed again at 9pm, leaving customers to pay via a coin-operated machine.

Miss Hudd said: "I would never ever go there again. I just wouldn't feel safe. Because there are no staff there anyone can get in there."

But Jette Jensen, area manager for Consol Suncenter, said the salon was safe. "We have managers visiting the centres regularly throughout the day and security staff on patrol," she said.

"There are panic buttons and sturdy locks in every cabin and CCTV in the communal area to check what is going on. We also have a 24 hour helpline for anyone who needs it."

The firm has since sent Miss Hudd a bouquet of flowers to apologise.